Future Wars

The Anticipations and the Fears

edited by David Seed

A broad time-span of subjects extending from the nineteenth century to the present day

A variety of critical approaches by leading scholars in the field which engage with historically specific instances or survey a theme in this fiction

The use of future war scenarios in military planning dates back to the nineteenth century. This book concludes with an assessment by an officer in the U.S. Army of the continuing usefulness of future wars fiction

Future Wars

The Anticipations and the Fears

edited by David Seed

Description

The subject of this timely book is that body of fiction which speculates in narrative form about the nature of wars likely to break out in the near or distant future. Although earlier instances occur, the origins of this mode lie primarily in the late nineteenth century but writing about future wars continues to this day with notable fiction on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ranging widely across periods and conflicts real and imagined, and boasting contributions from the late I. F. Clarke, H. Bruce Franklin and Patrick Parrinder, Future Wars explores the fascinating process of interaction between politics and literature, science fiction and war in a range of classic texts. Individual essays explore Reagan's 'star wars' project, nuclear fiction, Martian invasion, and the Pax Americana among other topics. The use of future war scenarios in military planning dates back to the nineteenth century. Future Wars concludes with an assessment by an officer in the U.S. Army of the continuing usefulness of future wars fiction.

Future Wars

The Anticipations and the Fears

edited by David Seed

Table of Contents

Introduction - David Seed1. Future-War Fiction: The First Main Phase, 1871-1900 - I. F. Clarke2. How America's Fictions of Future War Have Changed the World - H. Bruce Franklin3. War Is Peace: Conscrption and Mobilization in the Modern Utopia - Patrick Parrinder4. From Unvasion to Liberation: Alternative Visions of Mars, Planet of War - Robert Crossley5. John Henry Palmer's The Invasion of New York, or, How Hawaii Was Annexed: Political Discourse and Emergent Mass Culture in 1897 - John Rieder6. John Wyndham's World War III and his Abandoned Fury of Creation Trilogy - David Ketterer7. Prophesying Neocolonial Wars in 1950s American Science Fiction - Rob Latham8. On the Beach: British Nuclear Fiction and the Spaces of Empire's End - Brian Baker9. Adapting the Absurd Apocalypse: Eugene Burdick's and Harvey Wheeler's Fail-Safe and its Cinematic Progeny - Nicholas Ruddick10. The Strategic Defence Initiative: A Utopian Fantasy - David Seed11. When All Wars Are Done: The Transcendent Humanity of Iain M. Banks - Patricia Kerslake12. 'The Benefit and the Handicap of Hindsight': Modelling Risk and Reassessing Future-War Fiction after the 9/11-Induced Shft to a US National Security Strategy of Pre-emptive Attack - A. Michael Matin13. The War after Next: Anticipating Future Conflict in the New Millennium - Antulio J. Echevaria IIThe Writings of I. F. Clarke: A ChecklistBibliographyIndex

Future Wars

The Anticipations and the Fears

edited by David Seed

Author Information

David Seed is Professor of English at the University of Liverpool. He is the editor of The Blackwell Companion to Science Fiction (2005) and (with Susan Castillo) American Travel and Empire (LUP, 2009); author of Cinematic Fictions (LUP, 2009) and Brainwashing: The Fictions of Mind Control (Kent State University Press, 2004).

Future Wars

The Anticipations and the Fears

edited by David Seed

Reviews and Awards

"Future Wars: The Anticipations and the Fears, provides readers with an exciting opportunity to engage with the editor's perspective on the nature and consequences of science fiction texts considering how technological advances will change the face of contemporary military conflict."--Journal of the Fantastic In The Arts